Global Golf Post, March 6, 2017

globalgolfpost com MARCH 6 2017 Read more from The Posts writers globalgolfpost com now THE AMATEUR GAME JOHN STEINBREDER E MAIL JOHN Walker Cup Desire Burns Inside Sam Last December 16 of Americas best amateur golfers traveled to Los Angeles Country Club to participate as Walker Cup hopefuls in informal practice sessions at the site of this years matches It was a heady group all with designs of being among 10 players selected by the USGA to represent the United States in that biennial competition and be a part of Captain John Spider Millers team And they were certainly worthy of the invitation But there was some understandable discussion about those who were not tapped to make the trip chief among them 20 year old Sam Burns After all the LSU sophomore was regarded as one of the top college players in the land last fall having won two tournaments the David Toms Intercollegiate and the Sun Bowl All America Classic and having finished no worse than T9 in the four other events he had entered Being left off the practice squad understandably bothered Burns a bit but the strapping Shreveport La native refused to get negative Instead he has used the omission as a motivator and in the process found a way to elevate his game even higher First he tied for eighth at the Jones Cup in early February shining in a tournament that each year features one of the toughest fields in amateur golf Then Burns came in second at The Prestige at PGA West before capping off the month with a victory in the Louisiana Classics That victory made him the first LSU Tiger to triumph three times in a single season since Toms did so in 1989 In addition it moved Burns to the 51st spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and injected him even more deeply in conversations about who should be picked to represent the United States in September Being a part of the Walker Cup is on the top of my list for things I want to accomplish this year says the 6 foot 1 Burns whose father Todd and brother Chase both played football at Louisiana Tech And I am going to try to keep doing what I have been doing in hopes of making the team Burns who counts deer and duck hunting as two of his favorite offcourse pursuits has been dreaming big in competitive golf for almost a decade He first picked up a club when he was 7 years old and was playing local AJGA tournaments by the time he was 12 Two years later he began studying at the Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport eventually helping that private institution capture five Louisiana High School Athletic Association state championships in a row 2010 14 During that time Burns also won three individual titles as he established himself as one of the top junior golfers in the country On three occasions during that stretch the AJGA named him to its Rolex Junior All American team And in 2014 the organization honored Burns as its Rolex Junior Player of the Year Playing major college golf seemed a given for a player of such talents and Burns started at LSU in the fall of 2015 By that time he had acquired a mentor in Toms the former Tiger and fellow Shreveporter Mr David has been a big help and is always there if I have questions or need advice says Burns who is regarded as an excellent ball striker and putter as well as a long and accurate driver He was even nice enough to play a practice round with me at Oakmont after I qualified for the U S Open last summer I have known Mr David since I was a kid and his son Carter and I have played a lot of tournament golf over the years The family connection has only gotten tighter now that Carter Toms who is a year younger than Burns has enrolled at LSU and is also a member of the Tigers golf team As for his competitive schedule for the rest of the year Burns figures he will play in another four or five college tournaments for LSU and then an equal number of tournaments in the summer I hope to qualify for the U S Open again says Burns who managed to ace the par 3 13th at Oakmont during another practice round the week of last years National Championship I want to make the Palmer Cup team as well and play in the Sunnehanna Northeast and Western Amateurs And the U S Am too It is after that last tournament which is scheduled to finish on Sunday Aug 20 that the USGA will make it Walker Cup team selections Needless to say Burns hopes to make that invitation list l Sam Burns Being a part of the Walker Cup is on the top of my list for things I want to accomplish this year And I am going to try to keep doing what I have been doing in hopes of making the team

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